Brooke Henderson Just Falls Short – Finishes 3rd at Marathon Classic

After 54 holes at the Marathon Classic, Brooke Henderson knew she would need her best stuff in order to win on the LPGA TOUR for the 7th time on Sunday. A one stroke lead is a tenuous lead on any professional tour, and especially so when fourteen other players are within three shots of the lead.

Wise beyond her years, the twenty-year-old Canadian was correct in her assessment as her final round score of 69 (-2) was not enough to earn another trophy, one that that would have put her within one of the tying Sandra Post as the all-time leading Canadian in number of LPGA titles.

Two late bogies on holes fifteen and sixteen resulted in Brooke needing to convert an up-and-down for a regulation tie at -14 with Brittany Lincicome and Thidapa Suwannapura to be part of the playoff.

After a pitch shot from some thirty yards off the green on the closing par five, Brooke left the shot some 20 feet short of the hole. Unfortunately she could not convert it and had to settle for a third place.

“I was disappointed with my third,” said of the approach on the last. “It really wasn’t what I was looking for. But I gave it a great putt. Looked like it was going in the majority of the way, but it just kind of missed on the high side there. So, like I said, I gave it a good effort, and unfortunately, it just wasn’t my day today.”

7th Top Ten

It was her 7th top-ten finish of the season and best finish since she won the Lotte Championship presented by Hershey in April.

Despite a final day that did not live up to her expectations, or the hopes of her fans, Brooke painted a positive picture about her return to Ohio, where she missed the cut in 2017.

“It’s great to come back here and kind of put the last two years out of my mind and know that I can play really well here. Third is awesome, so I’m really happy, another top 10 for this year. And it was great to kind of be in contention again and seeing your name at the top of the leaderboard gives you a lot of confidence going forward. So hopefully I can take that going into the British in two weeks.”

Even with that rosy outlook Henderson had to admit the final four holes, where she went from the lead to trailing due to the two bogies, was not her best stuff.

She explained, “Yeah, it was sort of weird. I hated that tee shot on 15 the last couple days, but I tried my best. Sometimes golf is weird. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way, and that was kind of me the last four holes. The rest of the way I played really well, so I’m happy.”

Brooke will now take a week off before heading to the Royal Lytham & Ste Annes Golf Club for the playing of the Ricoh British Women’s Open. She tied for 49th in that Major Championship last year.

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Suwannapura become only the third player from Thaland to win on the LPGA Tour when she made biride on the forst extra hole. It was her 121st start on the LPGA TOUR, a TOUR she has played for seven years.

It’s that time of year. We’re just weeks away from the 2019 Flagstick Open Amateur Championship presented by TaylorMade and Adidas. Hosted at eQuinelle, it’s one of the best tournament values you’ll find all year [...]

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